Barney Frank

The person who is almost singlehandedly responsible for the complete disaster that are today's bankrupt GSEs, somehow succeeds in making America hate him even more, when he notes that the global response of condemnation to the Fed's actions, and the subsequent enjoinder by Republicans who wish nothing less than to save the dollar, instead of allowing hyperinflation to deal with the consequences of the idiotic actions by the MA congressman, is "extreme hypocrisy." How this excuse for a representative (of anything more than a few well-rounded bankers) gets any air time is beyond us. Until then, we will make sure the collective blood pressure of our readership remains elevated thanks to such unprecedented examples of the supreme corruption in D.C. as Barney Frank. And unrelated, but even more disturbing, is Frank's statement that he doesn't mind that there haven't been prosecutions of financial crisis players. Don't worry Barney, prosecutions will come... Luckily these will happen once your immunity lapses.

Ironically, Moody's whose own business model is now kaput courtesy of Donk (but managed to get a 6 month rolling SEC reprieve for the time being), has an unfavorable opinion on banks as a result of the just passed worst, and most corrupt legislature known to humankind. : "Moody's Investors Service today affirmed the long-term and short-term ratings of Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (Citi), and Wells Fargo (WFC) while at the same time changing the outlook to negative from stable on their ratings that currently receive ratings uplift as a result of Moody's assumption of systemic support (including their senior debt and deposit ratings). The outlook change is prompted by the recent passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) -- a law that, over time, is expected to result in lower levels of government support for U.S. banks. "Since early 2009, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo's ratings have benefited from an unusual amount of support," said Sean Jones, Moody's Team Leader for North American Bank Ratings. This support has resulted in debt and deposit ratings that range from three to five notches higher than that indicated by the banks' unsupported, intrinsic financial strength. "The intent of Dodd-Frank is clearly to eliminate government -- i.e. taxpayer -- support to creditors," said Mr. Jones. To achieve this, the law attempts to strengthen the ability of regulators to resolve complex financial institutions, while at the same time strengthening the supervision and regulation of such institutions to reduce the likelihood that they will need to be resolved in the future."

Surprised? Don't be. The congressman from Fannie Mae is only doing what is in his best interest. Not in that of America, mind you. But his own? Absolutely. Presumably the bill will now have enough votes to pass. Barney also saying TARP funds, so generously provided originally by taxpayers, will be used to fill funding holes instead. End result: B.F. and Wall Street 1; America, and highly intelligent electorate who votes Frank into office year after year 0.

In case you just can't get enough of of Barney Frank simply oozing truth, integrity and unbribable honesty (in other words, everything that defines the American Congressional way) in every interview he does, this Bloomberg TV clip is for you. It is also for everyone else who would rather not read the 2,000 pages of FinReg reform yet wants to get some sense if they will be sued next Monday for lifting a 5MM offer of UK CDS. Overall, Barney mumbles about this and that, discusses whether the bill will make banks less profitable (it won't), clarifies the 3% loophole for JPMorgan's investment in Highbridge, notes the surprising $19 billion bank levy, yet runs like a scolded schoolgirl the second Fannie and Freddie (also known as the one biggest disaster of his career, and the only thing he will be remembered for) are mentioned. "My Republican colleagues like to forget the fact that during the 12 years they controlled Congress, they did nothing about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When the Democrats took power in 2007, we passed a bill that gave them the power to put them into conservatorship. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac today are not what they were, thanks to a bill passed by a Democratic congress…They are in conservatorship. The notion that we haven't done anything is a lie, and they know that." The more important thing Barney, is that the American are fully aware that any pretense of reform coming from you is a lie, and they most certainly know that.

Just out from Reuters: Barney Frank has introduced the Frank Bank Levy Proposal, which would tax banks with more than $50 billion in assets, and hedge funds with more than $10 billion, and use the money to fund $4 billion for neighborhood assistance and foreclosure help for the jobless with good credit. In other words, big banks and hedge funds will be funding Obama's next stimulus for his core constituency.

Members of the
House-Senate Conference Committee on financial regulation are meeting
for a third day of deliberations on the Restoring American Financial
Stability Act of 2010. As part of the offered modification language which we discussed yesterday, the Committee today will focus to do all it can to eliminate any and every Fed-unwelcome initiative as part of the audit the Fed provision in the Congressional version of the Fin Reg bill. All those who want to see how corrupt politicians destroy any chance of fair and effective financial regulation are encouraged to tune in and focus their attention on Barney Frank.

Barney Frank has released the House "offer" language on various issues to be discussed tomorrow during the House-Senate Conference Committee, which will convene at 11am in Rayburn Room 2128. While some of the items on the docket relating to Investor Protection and Executive Compensation, are largely irrelevant, Barney will also discuss such critical issues as the Fed Audit, the Fed's emergency lending power, and Foreign FX swaps. Ignoring that 80% of the S population demand an end to fed secrecy, the just released proposed language also appears to peddle exclusively to Bernanke and his Wall Street superiors, in that items under debate for the audit will not include monetary policy, and it will be America's sad fate to extinguish under a 0% interest rate, never knowing how such lunacy can have come to be, until such time as the banking system blows itself up once again. This way the American public will never know whether someone like Goldman Sachs (in addition to Jerome Kerviel) has had any influence in determining monetary policy.

The Mass legislator totally loses it after penning yet another angry letter (he is good at that; being unconflicted and actually passing sensible and Wall Street influence-free laws, not so much) in which he says that the $6 trillion extra toxic debt on the US Treasury's books from the GSEs (which the democrats refuse to recognize) is really the republicans' fault. The fact that Barney was instrumental to creating the parabolic phase of the housing bubble with his idiotic statements in 2005 that there is "no bubble", and that his commission currently refuses to deal with issues such as the GSEs and a repeat of the housing bubble is completely absent from his letter.

FRANK:ASKS 4 TOP BNKS TO WRITE DOWN 2ND LIEN MORTAGESFRANK SENT LETTER TO BK OF AMERICA,JP MORGAN,WELLS FARGO, CITIFRANK:ASKS TO ALLOW PRIN REDUCTN MODIFNS OF UNDRLYNG 1ST LIENSFRANK:LARGE NUMBER OF 2ND LIENS HAVE NO ECON VALUEFRANK:2ND LIEN MORTGES NOW MAIN OBSTACLE TO LOAN MANY MOFISFRANK:MUST FOCUS ON PERMANENT MTG LOAN PRINCIPL REDUCTIONFRANK ASKS 4 TOP BKS MORE ACCURATE ACCNTG OF 2ND LIEN MTGS

Of course, the impact on Tier 1 capital will be felt (and if the market was efficient, priced in) immediately. One wonders after Second Liens, what next? Holdings of CRE, CMBS? Cross equity holdings? All other mark to myth "assets"?

“To reiterate, I continue to think that it would be a mistake for Congress to take action that formally conferred on Fannie and Freddie debt the legal status of debt issued by the Treasury. But nothing in that position prevents Treasury from acting as it thinks best with regard to its obligation to provide stability to the housing market and the financial system.” - Barney Frank, Post Appendage In Mouth

The latest update in the ongoing GSE drama comes from Barney Frank who during a conference of black, Hispanic and Asian Realtors
in Washington said the following: “Please don’t think this is federally guaranteed, I don’t
think it is, I don’t think it should be, I don’t feel any
obligation to bail you out.” Well, that comes almost two year two late after the government already made all GSE lenders whole. Barner's posturing is merely in response to Republican efforts to account properly for GSE liabilities which, courtesy of their conservatorship status, are explicitly backed by the government. Of course, should the GSEs be put on the budget, the US debt/GDP, as pointed out previously on Zero Hedge, would surge by nearly 50%, from 90% to 140%. But Barney Frank, just like Peter Orzsag, is all about semantics.

A week ago Ron Paul asked Ben Bernanke a series of questions, which the Chairman and pundits immediately dismissed as "bizarre" and an indication that the potential presidential candidate has finally lost it (among these was a very nuanced question whether or not the Fed is buying sovereign debt, something which Bernanke disclosed in 2002 is a distinct possibility and an action the Fed is permitted to do). Chief among these were queries arising from the work of U of T professor Robert Auerbach, and specifically his book "Deception and Abuse at the
Fed", which seek information on whether the Fed was involved in the Watergate scandal and, subsequently, in Iraqi weapons purchases. Well, Paul may not be as kooky as people are trying to make him out to be. None other than "consumer protection advocate" Barney Frank has demanded that Bernanke do a full probe based on these allegations.

In 2005 Barney Frank saw no housing bubble. Today, this "authority on housing" mumbles something about abolishing the GSEs entirely. Does anyone in D.C. even think before they speak any more? And no, Barney, this is far too little, far too late. We hope you are enjoying your last ever term in Congress.

Since we can't understand a single word he is saying, we assume it is just the usual worthless drivel we have all grown to love and expect from the adorable megalomaniac. One part we could understand that caused an immediate liquification of our collective frontal lobes: we didn't feel like proposing the type of sweeping reform seen today, because "how do we not know that the next administration will not undo it and cause the kind of problems we had before." Then the Frankster says he will push off asset sales for 5 five years - just in time for this hypothetical "next administration" to come in an undo everything proposed by Obama. It is time Barney Frank follow the example of Dodd and spend much more time with his wife and children...

As part of the Barney Frank proposed Manager's Amendment, which will accompany HR4173, the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009", are three little-noticed rules that, if adopted, will make shorting stocks if not impossible, then extremely problematic and difficult. It is obvious why these rules would end up in an amendment: the outcry from retail and institutional traders would have been huge had these proposals made the full text of the proper Bill, and into the full view of the Mainstream Media. So why bother with these - simple. As everyone is aware, Ponzi schemes only work when constantly growing, as otherwise they blow up, implode under their own weight, once price discovery is attempted by all. Case in point: when Madoff's securities was unable to find another greater fool in the face of collapsing asset values, the jig was up overnight, and the value of the pyramid went from $50+ billion to $0 instantaneously.

In this manner, Ponzies are like sharks - they need to swim to live: any deviation from the norm threatens their very survival. By comparison, shorting has always been the most traditional way to force price discovery: as idiot money pension funds tend to be long-only, selling only occurs in times when book gains have to be realized, and facilitates a rising market without any natural checks and balances. If this amendment passes, the entire equity market will have become Madoff securities to the dot. It will continue going up, until market values are a reflection of no underlying fundamentals, but simply the latest pension fund long-only dumb terminal willing to throw managed capital into the bonfire of an inevitable future stock market collapse. And, to borrow another page from the Madoff analogy, when the inevitable correction does occur, it would not be 10% or 20%: the entire worth of the Ponzi would be gutted.